Courmayeur: the Ski Resort for Gourmands

Courmayeur: the Ski Resort for Gourmands

The Italian ski resort of Courmayeur has a rich tradition of fine-dining and gastronomy. It is a culture which the town is proud to celebrate in events throughout the year, including a range of food festivals highlighting everything from traditional local fare to international haute cuisine.
A Destination for Some of the World’s Top Chefs

It is this history of excellent food which has attracted many of the world’s leading chefs to the resort over the years. Leading names such as Heston Blumenthal, Sat Bains, Claude Bosi, Marcus Wareing and Jason Atherton have all made the journey from Geneva to Courmayeur to create gourmet experiences in the resort.

Blumenthal is so enamoured with the resort and its culinary pedigree that for the last four years he has hosted his own Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience in which he and other leading chefs create a gastronomic mountain treat for a select clientele.

Bookings are now available for the Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience 2018 (20-23 March).

Excellent Restaurants

Alongside the famous names with their Michelin stars are a fantastic range of local restaurants, many of them family-run, which serve excellent local cuisine of an exceptionally high standard.

There are so many that it can be hard to choose which to visit during a short stay, so here are my suggestions for the best places to eat in Courmayeur.

• Hotel Christiania Set in Plan Checrouit, the restaurant at the Hotel Christiania is run by its enthusiastic owners Carlo and Marisa. This is the place to come if you want to enjoy a leisurely lunch of pizza and pasta, done the authentic Italian way. Sit on the sunny terrace and soak up the atmosphere in this excellent eatery.

• Maison Vieille The food in the mountain restaurants of the resort is so good that the authorities have extended the hours of the cable car to midnight so that visitors can enjoy supper under the stars at restaurants like Maison Vieille. Here you will enjoy local meats, pastas and a range of delectable deserts. The wine list here is wonderful, full of local wines that the owners will encourage you to try.

• Chiecco For fine dining on the slopes, check out the traditional wooden chalet just above Plan Checrouit which houses Chiecco. The menu is made up of local produce and includes such mouth-watering treats as wild boar and polenta, ricotta ravioli and excellent ragùs.

• Chateau Branlant Dinner at the Chateau Branlant starts off with an exciting snow mobile ride from the top of the Dolonne or Courmayeur gondolas to the restaurant, with another one back at the end of your night. If this wasn’t reason enough to visit, then the delicious, authentic Italian cuisine should be. My advice is to try the daily specials, which are usually the best thing on what is always an exquisite menu.

Getting There

Foodies will have no trouble getting to the resort thanks to the wide range of flights into Geneva from the UK. The transfer journey from Geneva to Courmayeur takes around an hour and a half.

For an executive transfer from Geneva to Courmayeur, book online with Shuttle Direct before you leave home and one of our drivers will be waiting to meet you when you land.